TNAG-1021-FCO40-1271-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-international-organisations-1981 — Page 35

CONFIDENTIAL

:

-

b) Discrimination sometimes inadvertent

- by the agencies and by public opinion between the victims of different crises. The most obvious recent example is the relatively lavish per capita response to the problems of Indo-Chinese refugees compared with their counterparts in Africa, which led to the call for an international conference on African Refugees.

c)

Political inhibitions. These include such questions as whether food aid to Cambodia sustains Vietnamese troops, or the award of 'brownie points' to the régimes in Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan, in determining the international response to appeals for assistance.

d)

Each crisis tends to be handled by a different agency (or agencies) under different arrangements. At the very least, this results in inconsistencies. (For example, in the Lebanon assistance was coordinated by UNICEF, WFP and UNHCR; in Uganda the work was done by UNDP, UNHCR and WHO; and in Cambodia it was a joint UNICEF/ICRC operation.)

the

e) 'Emergencies' are becoming more protracted; dividing line between emergency relief and developmental aid (ie rehabilitation and reconstruction) blurred. A lengthy emergency imposes intolerable strains on the resources of the relief agencies concerned, to the detriment of their activities on the spot and their ability to react to other emergencies elsewhere.

f) Problems of definition are another cause for dis- satisfaction. They include the obvious, such as the decision as to whether an emergency exists, and also other questions such as the scale of assistance justified and which agency is best equipped to take charge. The frequent combination of natural and man-made disasters further complicates decision-making on the nature and level of the international response.

g) A separate but related problem results from the fact that many UN as well as all voluntary agencies, depend entirely on voluntary contributions. This is exacerbated in the UN system by the disinclination of the Soviet Union and its allies to show any concern for international emergency relief - and sometimes even to capitalise on the chaos following emergencies to pursue their own political objectives. Lack of unanimity diminishes the chances of coherent and effective responses.

CONFIDENTIAL

/3.